Digging One’s Own Grave

By Mandee

Summary- This is an alternate ending to the season 6 finale- Grave.

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This occurs right after Willow absorbed more power from Giles.

" Oh my gosh, Giles, are you okay?" Anya asked worriedly, regaining consciousness. Giles lay on the floor, weakened, dying.

" No, I think rather not. I know what she did, what she’s doing," Giles replied groggily.

"What? What? Who? Oh, Willow, right. But why did she take your power? What is she gonna do to everyone?" Anya inquired.

"Anya, that’s just it. She’s not hurting anyone; she’s hurting herself. And only herself. That’s more horrible."

"Why is that worse?"

"She committing suicide the worst way possible. She’s on King Man’s Bluff. She’s going to—" Suddenly, Giles went "asleep".

"No, no wake up. Okay. Let me get you mad so you wake up to hit me. Here goes- You’re old. Um, you’re an incompetent British man who couldn’t keep his Slayer in line and now her best friend is gonna kill herself and I think you’re gay." Anya exasperated, shaking Giles’s lifeless body. Anya transported herself to Buffy to tell her the news.

Meanwhile, on King Man’s Bluff, Willow decided what to do. "I killed him. I couldn’t kill the rest. The stooges. The evil wannabes. I’m the bad ass. If I kill myself, I-I can be with Tara, again."

"Xander! Xander! Are you up there?" Buffy yelled up at the hole high above her head.

"I’m gonna get a rope. Hold on," Xander replied.

"Okay."

Out of nowhere, Anya appeared in front of them, and Xander stood by to hear news from his ex.

"How are things?" Anya questioned, obviously covering up something more important.

"Bad. You?" Buffy replied.

" Terrible. And things just got a whole lot worse. Giles, he said that Willow’s going to kill herself."

"Where? How do we stop her?" Buffy said, holding back immense tears, already lamenting the loss of her best friend.

"I don’t know. I didn’t have time to ask him. I never-"

"Wait," Buffy muttered. " What happened to Giles?"

"He’s in a better place now, for sure. We know he didn’t go down there," Anya said, not dealing with her mentor’s death.

Buffy fell to the ground, tears spilling down, cascading down her cheeks only to collect in puddles on the hard dirt floor. "No, no...," she repeated. Looking up to Xander above, she screamed, "Where is that rope?"

"Buffy and friends won’t help me. No one will," Willow angrily said. She flicked her wrist, motioning demons to come out from a multitude of places, ready to kill if the Scoobies came to help Willow.

Meanwhile, Xander helped Dawn and Buffy out of the crypt. They started running to King Man’s Bluff, with swords in hand, in case another battle came.

Willow raised the top of a satanic temple and started using her dark mojo in order to hurt herself. Cuts and bruises started opening up, and Willow screamed in pain as blood profusely exited her wounds in mass amounts. The crimson liquid stained and dried. Blood from her mouth came and was immediately spit out, which immediately caused her to use more juice.

The Scoobies inched their way to the bluff to save Willow. However, the demons meant to protect the ritual had to be killed. Knowing she couldn’t do it herself, she asked Dawn for help since time was limited.

"Are you sure about this?" Buffy asked, making sure Dawn was up for the challenge.

"I’m ready," Dawn replied, and with that, she began fighting.

When Buffy had finished her first kill, she turned to Dawn to see if she needed assistance. To her surprise, Dawn fought wonderfully, successfully killing the demon. Turning to her open-mouthed sister, Dawn exclaimed, "What? You think I never watched you?" The Scoobies passed the demons and finally reached a torn and battered Willow, still strong, or as strong as you can be while killing yourself. Buffy ordered Dawn to go to the Magic Box, to get a reversal spell and to see if Giles was really dead. Then, they approached Willow.

"Xander!" Buffy screamed, but it was too late. He ran right into the fire, and a thick wall created an enclosure inside, so no one could enter to help Xander.

"What do you think you’re doing?" an angered, dying Willow asked harshly.

"Hey black-eyed girl. Whatcha doin’?" Xander replied.

"Get out. I have to do this. I can’t take the world anymore. This year alone has almost killed me inside. Why not finish it?"

"Because you’re not evil. This isn’t the Willow I know. On the first day of kindergarten, you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you didn’t want to tell anyone. You’ve changed a lot, killing yourself, not a terrific notion…"

"Shut up." Willow threw him aside, continuing her pain.

Nonetheless, Xander returned to his best friend’s side.

"It doesn’t have to be like this."

"Yes it does. I don’t want to live in this world anymore. If I control the spell enough, I may be with Tara again."

"But you killed a person. Tara went to heaven. Will you? Do you even deserve to be with her?"

"You think I don’t?"

"No, I don’t. We can help you like we did before." Xander took a deep breath. "And if you’re gonna kill yourself, then kill me before. I at least deserve not seeing you die. And even, if I live, I’ll still love you."

"Shut up." With that, deep cuts ran across Xander’s face. Realizing what he had to do, he said once more, "I love you." and cuts ran onto his chest. When he repeated the words, a burst of energy came to him hocking him violently. However, the fourth and fifth time, her power ran out, and in true fury, Willow started punching Xander, out if hate, disgust, and misery. She soon collapsed in sadness, crying, and soon her jet-black hair returned to its original auburn color.

At the Magic Box, Giles awoke with Dawn at his side, and explained to her that Xander saved Willow.

Later on, Willow packed alone, ready to go to London in order to learn about and control her magicks. Buffy told Dawn about her fighting skills, and how she wanted to show Dawn the world.

At the Sunnydale airport, Willow grabbed her suitcases, and followed Giles to the gate leading to the airplane to London. Glancing back at her only home for so many years, she saw none of the Scoobies bidding her farewell, and muttered, "Goodbye, me. I hope I come home soon." Willow then turned around and slowly boarded the plane. Meanwhile, the Scoobies entered the Magic Box; mournfully picking up shattered wood and glass left over from Willow’s evil rampage.

THE END